It wasn’t that long ago that the Bruins were a laughingstock that couldn’t qualify for the playoffs the first two years out of the lockout.

But every season since head coach Claude Julien arrived in Boston, the Bruins have pushed those dark days farther into the past.

With a 2-1 win at Philadelphia tonight, the Bruins clinched a fourth straight playoff berth. Next up, the Northeast Division title, which will be the Bruins’ second in three seasons.

Amazingly, the Bruins finished the season series by taking three out of four, and seven points, against the Eastern Conference-leading Flyers. You combine that with three wins against second-place Washington, two wins (five points) against Pittsburgh and three wins against Tampa Bay, and it cannot be denied that Boston has proven it’s one of the teams to beat in the East.

Here’s a glance at the box score:

•Brad Marchand scored the game-winning goal with just 3:43 left in regulation. It was his 20th of the season and first after a 12-game drought.

•In goal, Tim Thomas earned his third straight win with 27 more saves, including a couple point-blank stops on Kris Versteeg (who scored the Flyers’ goal) and Andrej Meszaros when the Bruins were behind 1-0.

•You can consider this a power-play eruption for the Bruins. They scored two goals on the man-advantage tonight, the first time they’ve scored more than once on the power play since Jan. 18 at Carolina. Boston’s power play is now 4-for-15 over the last four games.

•With an assist on the game-winning goal, Mark Recchi tied Paul Coffey for 12th on the all-time assist list with 1,531.

Next 2 will us something as well. Really interested in seeing how they play Chicago. Psyched its a National TV game. Probably the fans care more about the Leafs game than the team, but they got embarrassed last game. If they don’t show again against the draft pick, I’ll be really disappointed with their focus. After the Rangers, its time to play Sauve, Caron, Ryder and Kampfer to get them ready just in case.

I feel like I’ve been waiting for the playoffs since the draft ended! Go Bs!

We have kind of had Philly’s number this season though given that we haven’t lost a regulation game to them.

Honestly we actually have a better record against the teams in the top four than we do against the teams in the bottom 4 (although we could end up with a 2-2 finish with the Rangers once we play the 4th game). My dream match up for the Bruins would be Tampa but that isn’t going to happen.

fantastic play tonight against arguablly hte most elite team in the east. The b’s have what it takes if we stick to our game. We are in the top five gpg category all yeah and we can finally hit the net.

The more I think about it, the less I blame Claude for the roller-coaster experiences this team has faced. It seems that when the team comes out guns blazing, and relies on the system, things tend to work; and if they don’t, CJ changes them. The power play has looked infinitely better over the past few games, with puck movement at a premium and more shots finding their way through from the point.

This team is figuring out its identity, and getting contributions from almost everywhere. The Kelly/Peverley/Seguin line has to break through at some point, considering how many chances they’re creating. It’s a good time to be a B’s fan. Go brooooanss

oh and by the way for anybody who is in the mood for arguing. krejci/bergeron/peverley/campbell is as good a group of centers as you will find in the nhl. add to that seguin needs to get a regular shift.